Between Two Beers podcast: How Kiwi social media guru got 3.6 million followers on Instagram

Lucy Blakiston joins the Between Two Beers podcast.

In 2018, Lucy Blakison was sitting in a Victoria University lecture in Wellington, becoming increasingly frustrated with how disconnected she felt from the information she was being delivered.

So, along with her two hometown best friends, she started a blog called Shit You Should Care About.

Four years later, it’s turned into a mini-media empire. Her daily newsletter reaches 60,000 subscribers every morning, she hosts two podcasts and runs an Instagram page which has 3.6 million followers.

In this episode we talk about Shit You Should Care About’s ginormous Instagram presence, and what it’s like being followed by Billie Eilish, Joe Rogan and Ariana Grande, how they went from 200,000 followers to a million in one month – and why it made her too scared to post, learning to accept the tag ‘media genius’, the decision to go ‘full time’, how they make their money, Harry Styles, what the future holds and so much more.

This was an enlightening, fun chat with someone who seems to understand social media better than anyone we’ve met.

If you, like me, had never heard of SYSCA and/or Lucy (50yr old sports-fan-goof here) and initially wonder about swerving this ep... do yourself a favour and don't.

I'm bluddy glad I did - honest, insightful, and illuminating. https://t.co/hdwBwNLoIk

— CJ (@SmithyInWelly) November 20, 2022

Show notes:

3.00: Two weeks in a campervan on a road show

8:35: “A media genius on a world level”

81015: The origin story of Shit You Should Care About

21310: Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Joe Rogan get on board

24:44: From 200,000 to 1 million followers in a month

28:54: Learning on the rise from 1 million to 3 million

34:06: A Harry Styles interlude

34:41: Going pro: the decision to fulltime

38:18: The Neon deal and setting up Culture Vulture

44:01: Diversifying the audience through newsletters

48:55: Connection fatigue, self-pressure and low stakes errors

54:09: The power of community

58:23: The importance of Ruby and Liv

61:35: Mundane Polls

1:04:57: Paying the bills (and turning down an approach from The White House)

1:09:29: Quick thoughts on TikTok

1:11:37: Does writing a daily newsletter feel like a job?

1:13:03: Future gazing

1:14:08: Keeping harmony within the Shit You Should Care About universe

1:16:31: Web3, NFTs, block chain, and the Discord experience

1:19:20: Educating the world about New Zealand and vice-versa

1:21:41: Some bits and pieces from a Shit You Should Care About insider

1:24:53 Last words from Steven, Seamus and Lucy

Between Two Beers is part of the Alternative Commentary Collective - NZ’s Home for Sports Entertainment. Check out more podcasts, events, details on live commentaries and sports watch alongs here.